For Sankranti, make a day of visiting Hosur by temple hopping through the three most popular ones in and around the city. We all know that Hosur is now practically a part of Bangalore (looking at you E-City dwellers) but still qualifies as a road trip worthy town. Not quite the bustling city yet, a drive-through will treat you to the hills on either side, which seems to have caught the eye of people from a few generations ago as well. On either side of the highway lay twoancient temples that history, culture and architecture buffs might find fascinating.
The more famous of the two is the Chandra Choodeswarar Temple which predates the town of Hosur itself. It is one of the oldest temples located in the Dharmapuri district. Dedicated to Shiva with a moon on his head (which gives it the name), it’s on a hill, that your vehicle can (thankfully) climb to reach the parking space. The unique aspect of the hill is that you can see two other hills with temples in line with you (on for Vishnu, and the other for Brahma) that you can’t see unless you’re at the top.
The second temple is the Venkateshwara Swami Temple (also known as Dakshina Tirupathi) that’s slightly off the main road. The surroundings are largely untouched, so the view at the top of the hill is of green paddy fields, the countryside, and even a small stream depending on the time of the year. It’s a recently renovated temple, but the inner sanctum has been retained. The Brahma temple is atop the tallest of the aptly named Brahma Hills nearby. However, the temple is not accessible by car, but the locals will be happy to guide you to it should you feel the need to visit.
